New Measure to Plug Water Pilferage

The BWSSB is considering sanctioning sanitary connections only to those households that have water connections and an RR number in newly-added areas of the city.

The proposal comes amid concerns over pilferage of supplied water, which causes an estimated revenue loss of `20 crore to BWSSB every month.

According to a source in the BWSSB, with the commissioning of the Cauvery-IV Stage II Phase Drinking Water Project, the proportion of water being used illegally has risen from 36 per cent to 45 per cent. The plan to link sanctioning of sanitary connections to water connections is aimed at making house owners subscribe for a water connection.

According to T Venkatraju, engineer in chief, BWSSB, about 40-60 per cent of water supplied to newly-added areas of the city is unaccounted for.

Venkatraju said the BWSSB had laid pipelines at the doorsteps of around 2.3 lakh households in the newly-added areas of the city under the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project.

However, only 60,000 households in these areas have legal water connections. “Unless most of these households subscribe for a water connection, it will be impossible to minimise leakages from pipelines,” he said.

Venkatraju said as the BWSSB is still supplying borewell water in these areas free of cost, residents are reluctant to apply for a metered connection that supplied Cauvery water as they would have to pay for it. “Though they pay pro-rata and other charges while taking a sanitary connection, they are unwilling to take a water supply connection,” he said.

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